


Inked Flowers

by rehflections



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: #stop rehflections 2k16, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Angst, Depression, Drug Use, F/M, Fluff, I'm Sorry, I'm so sorry, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, It's Gonna Be Angsty, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Rating may go up, Recreational Drug Use, i just want to protect him, i love yoosung so much, more characters will be added as the story progresses, why do i keep hurting him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-21 19:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8258473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rehflections/pseuds/rehflections
Summary: It's been a year since your mother passed away, taken by a fatal disease. You've never been more distant from your father, and you feel your life slowly spiraling into a messy tangle of depression and anxiety. You live a boring, routine life, filled with alcohol and drugs while you're alone at night to help you sleep. When you run into a pretty boy in an alley way, you're unsure whether he'll help you change for the better or the worse, but you're willing to take the risk.





	1. Tree

**Author's Note:**

> My first multi-chapter for Mystic Messenger~~~ and it's breaking my heart writing about it lolol  
> This is an AU so there are no spoilers, but there is a SEVERE TRIGGER WARNING! Drug usage, suicide and self harm references. The rating also might go up and I'll add more tags as the story progresses. Please only read if you're comfortable!

It’d been exactly a year since your mother died. Cancer had taken her as its own, slowly but surely killing her over the course of 9 months. Ever since the day when she was first diagnosed, you searched for some kind of routine or normality, knowing your life was destined to never be the same. Both your parents stayed together until the very end, but it was certain that they didn’t truly love each other, only keeping their rings for the sake of the family business they started when they were young. Your father was upset by the death of your mother, but it seemed to be the weight of running a flower shop entirely himself that dragged him down the most. You tried to help him where you could, but with school taking up all your time your efforts proved nothing.

 

Your 21st birthday was fast approaching, another birthday you dreaded. You felt no need to celebrate or fake happiness without your mother around. She’d been your rock your whole life, always being the one to bring a smile to your face on the darkest of days. When she was gone, it felt as if there was a cloud shadowing you that the wind just couldn’t push away. Of course, your father knew you were more heavily effected than him, but he was never truly affectionate, and he didn’t know how to be now. He kept living as normal, hoping that you would be able to follow suit.

 

You did continue with your daily life, attending school, helping with the shop, and seeing friends, but you just didn’t feel the joy in it that you did before. You were slowly slipping into a deep depression, being consumed by constant anxiety and doubt, similar to how cancer consumed your mother. You truly did try to escape multiple times, but it seemed so pointless in the end that you couldn’t help but fall back.

 

You’d undoubtedly picked up some nasty habits from your shadowing depression, you’d lock yourself away at times and disassociate until you had to go back to school again. You’d picked up cigarettes from time to time, but preferred the buzz that alcohol and marijuana brought. You knew the happiness from drugs wasn’t real, it was synthetic and temporary, but anything was better than the constant ‘nothing’ you felt.

 

You figured your 21st birthday would go the same as any regular day, you go to school, help at the flower shop, do some homework, then inevitably drink and smoke until you passed out only to repeat the same thing the next day. Your friends tried to get through to you, but you’d insist nothing was wrong. You just kept thinking to yourself, as long as you can stay on top of school and work you can’t be _that_ ill anyway.

 

It wasn’t until the day before your birthday when your friend Jaehee suggested going to a concert. ‘A local band was playing at a pub downtown and it might be fun,’ she said, convincing you to go with her. You didn’t expect much out of the night, just some half-decent music with some half-decent alcohol. However, your birthday ended up much different than expected. You never even thought for a moment you’d end up with a strange boy in the alley behind the pub, his chapped lips pressed against your neck leaving traces of himself.

 

His fingers dug into your hips, surely leaving bruises there as well. A moan escaped you, the air clouding up from the chill outside. You couldn’t really make out what the boy looked like inside with the dim, flashing lights, but under the shine from the moon you could see he had light blonde hair and skin littered in tattoos. When he lifted his head from your neck to kiss your lips, you saw a metal ring hanging from his nose, a septum piercing. His face seemed so innocent, he was kind of baby-faced to be honest. If you’d just seen his face without the piercing you’d never expect him to have such an alternative style.

 

You also wouldn’t have expected him to be such an incredible kisser.

 

He eventually pulled away, fingers loosening their grip at your waist. “Name’s Yoosung, by the way.” He said, giving a smile that looked far too innocent for somebody who’d just had his tongue down your throat.

 

You introduced yourself as well, keeping your crude thoughts to yourself.

 

“Pleasure to meet you,” He said, “I guess I should tell you a bit about myself?” It was hard to tell in the moonlight, but a faint blush seemed to creep upon his cheeks. How could a boy who’d been so bold to make out with you in an alley get flustered from talking? “I’m 21, I’m a tattoo artist. I just moved here a month ago, actually.”

 

“Oh, today’s actually my 21st birthday…” You said, laughing awkwardly. “I’m still in school, business. My family runs a flower shop though, I’ll probably take over it someday.” You felt a bit inferior, he’s an _artist_ and you’re just planning on running a boring old flower shop.

 

“Whoa- a flower shop?” He sounded actually surprised. “That’s so cool! You must really love colour then, huh?”

 

The question caught you a bit off guard, as it was unexpected. “Uh, yeah. I guess so?” You never really considered if you _liked_ colour, since it was always just kind of there. But now that you were thinking of it, you’ve always preferred colour to black and white.

 

“Heh, sorry if that came out weird.” Yoosung said, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s just, I mainly work in black and white.” You glanced at his arm, only now noticing that it was in fact completely black ink. You couldn’t help but admire the art on his body now that you didn’t have his distracting lips on yours, he had portraits, words, drawing, all the like. “Did you do that all yourself?”

 

“Yeah!” He smiled brightly, seeming proud of his work. “Once I became more confident with my skills I started tattooing myself on that arm, I’m just now moving to the other one. I’m pretty lucky that I’m able to use both hands for drawing. When I was first learning I practiced on my legs, I’ve covered a few things up with better tattoos, but some of my original stuff is still there.”

 

You were fascinated, you’ve always loved art, but somebody who was dedicated enough to practice their own art on their body before they were comfortable seemed incredible. You knew tattoo artists had to start somewhere, you just never put much thought into it before.

 

“Hey, could I buy you a drink or something? I’d love to keep talking but frankly this alley is a bit…”

 

You couldn’t help but laugh into your hand. “I think we’re a bit past the whole buying drinks stage, but I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you a bit longer. To be honest, I’m not a fan of the crowds so anywhere besides inside that club is fine with me.”

 

Yoosung smiled again, the familiar blush spreading across his cheeks once more. “Yeah, okay! Actually, do you mind coming with me to have a smoke? Not darts, pot, I mean. If you don’t want to I totally get it – we can do something else.”

 

You waved him off, “It’s fine. Only if you offer me some, though.”  You smirked, starting to walk towards the abandoned train tracks you were all too familiar with. “Come with me, I know a good spot.”

 

The two of you walked for about 20 minutes, Yoosung making a few jokes about you leading him into the forest to murder him, with your sarcastic remarks that he was _so gullible_. You finally reached your favourite spot, though. The train tracks broke off in two different directions, but there was a trail that led deeper into the forest, but only to lead to a clearing. It wasn’t terribly deep in the woods, but far enough that it was private and you were unlikely to have any unwanted guests.

 

You sat down on the grass, crossing your legs and resting your elbows on your knees. Yoosung sat down across from you, pulling his backpack off and unzipping it. He retrieved a joint and a lighter. He lit it, guarding the flame from the wind, then passed it to you. “Ladies first,” He said, a gentle smile on his face. You inhaled deeply, holding the smoke for a bit before blowing it back out. You passed the joint back to Yoosung, careful not to drop the joint with your shaking hands.

 

You didn’t even realize you were shaking until now. You weren’t cold, and you felt comfortable with Yoosung. Sometimes, your own body was a complete mystery to you. You’d hoped Yoosung wouldn’t notice, but he did. “Are you cold?” He asked, already shrugging his flannel shirt off his shoulders. “It’s not a sweater or anything, but it’s warm. I’ll be fine in just my t-shirt!”

 

He seemed to get worried so easily, but you simply waved him off. “I’m alright, really. I just get the shakes sometimes, it’s weird. But I’m fine, seriously.”

 

The two of you sat together for a while, smoking up. You collectively burned through 3 of his joints, and they weren’t lightly packed either. You laid down, feeling so light that you grabbed onto the grass blades and dirt to keep from floating away. Yoosung laid down next to you, staring at the stars. You hadn’t even seen him in proper light yet, but you found yourself admiring his features against the moonlight once more. His face looked so innocent, but you knew that wasn’t the case. The pot in your system made you both more talkative. You shared your mother’s death with him, and in return he told you about his adoptive parents and why he ran away from them at the age of 18.

 

He practiced art on his skin when he was only 12 years old, using permanent markers to make designs on his body to cover up bruises left from his parents. He went through a period where permanent markers turned to razor blades, but he assured you it was just a short phase. One ride in the ambulance after getting carried away scared that habit right out of him. However, it wasn’t the ambulance that scared him, but his parent’s anger at the bill the received after he was all stitched up.

 

You shared with him things you’d never even told Jaehee, like when you first caught you father cheating on your mother when you were only six years old, and that it wasn’t _really_ the cancer that caused your mother’s death, but rather too many pills: the cancer was just a contributing factor that led up to her suicide. He told you why he didn’t work in colour, that he’d turned away anybody who asked for him to tattoo him with colour. He felt like he was living his life in black and white and he didn’t feel like he could produce anything beautiful enough that had colour. You told him that flowers reminded you of your mom, and seeing your father handle them made you so incredibly sick. You told him your deep-routed hatred for your father, his cheating and manipulating ways.

 

The two of you talked until you saw the sun begin to rise, and you weren’t quite sure when, but at some point one of you had grabbed onto the others hand and neither of you bothered to let go. You’d surely come down from your high by now, and any affect the alcohol had on you wore off hours ago, yet you still felt so elated. Was it because of Yoosung? You’d never confided in anybody before like you just did, and you didn’t imagine yourself becoming so trustworthy of some inked up boy you made out with in an alley before exchanging names, but something about him was different. You knew this boy could either turn out to the best thing that ever happened to you, or the worst. You weren’t quite sure which one it was going to be yet, but you were willing to take the change.

 

Yoosung squeezed your hand lightly, and you hummed a small response. “We should probably get up now, it’s morning.” He said, raising himself on his elbow to look at you.

 

“I guess so… Can we see each other again soon, though?” The words slipped out of your mouth without any thought process going into them, the sleep deprivation making you much bolder than you were.

 

Yoosung sat up fully now, letting go of your hand. He reached into his backpack and grabbed out a pen. He reached for your hand again, but instead scribbled numbers onto your forearm. “Go home, get some rest, and call me when you’re awake. If I’m not up yet you can just leave me a message and I’ll call you back, alright?”

 

You sat up, looking at the numbers on your arm, then back to Yoosung. He seemed so much more beautiful and innocent in the daylight. The shadows of the night were no longer accentuating his features, so the bright sun on him made him look like a boy who’s never faced a hardship. It was near impossible to imagine all the struggles he had faced, but there was something about his eyes that seemed dark. They were a bright violet, but his gaze seemed to be constantly looking past you.

 

“Okay,” You nodded, slowly getting up on your feet, feeling all your stiff joints crack as they stretched. “I’m only a five minute walk from home, so I’ll probably be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow to be honest.”

 

“I live downtown, actually. I don’t have a far walk either, so I’ll probably be in the same situation as you.”

 

The two of you walked together until you got back to the streets, though it was still too early for people to be out and about. You walked alongside Yoosung with your hand in his until you had to part ways. You bid each other fairwell, letting go of his hand and smiling at him once more. You walked the rest of the way alone, but haunted by the pleasing memories of Yoosungs smile when he looked at you, and the way his lips felt against your skin, even though it was likely alcohol induced then. You planned to stay true to your promise of falling asleep immediately, but your thought process kept shifting to when you would see Yoosung again, and when you would feel his lips against your body again. Even, just hearing his voice again would be more than enough. At some point, sleep caught up to you and took you as it’s own, dreams cluttered with recounts of the night you had just experienced.


	2. Dope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heLLo thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments! it really means a lot! this chapter is sad! and has lots of drug references! pls do not read if you are not comfortable! i love you!

“Have you talked yet?” Jaehee asked while composting some stray stems and leaves.

 

“No…” You sighed, unwrapping the bouquet you’d just tied to rearrange it for the sixth time. It’d been 5 days since you saw Yoosung, and you called him as soon as you had woken up, just as you promised. He didn’t answer, so you sent him a text saying it was you. He never replied though, and you didn’t expect to be as upset as you actually were. He was just a boy you made out with then smoked with, that was the end of it. Why did it feel as if someone was strumming on your heart strings?

 

Of course, you’d wallowed in self-pity for a full day, then told Jaehee the story of what happened. She wasn’t comfortable with your constant drug usage, but she’d given up trying to help you long ago. She realized there was no point in helping someone who didn’t want help. Though that didn't stop her from remaining by your side. “From what you’ve told me it sounds like he seriously wanted to see you. Maybe you read the number wrong, or he wrote it wrong? You’ve got to admit, you both weren’t fully there at that point.”

 

You shrugged, rewrapping the bouquet once more. “We had already came down, it was hours since either of us last smoked or drank. I don’t know…”

 

“You said he was a tattoo artist, right? There’s not too many parlours downtown, why don’t we go check a few out and see if we can find him?”

 

“I’m not too sure about that, Jaehee. What if he actually doesn’t want to see me? I don’t want him to think I’m obsessive or anything.” The thought of someone you _kind of_ hooked up with while drunk showing up while you were working made you feel nauseous.  You didn’t know what was wrong with you, you had kissed plenty of boys while drunk before. Except, you never spent the entire night with them, nor did you ever develop any kind of feelings.

 

“I just hate to see you like this, you at least deserve a proper answer. If he doesn’t like you, which I doubt is the case, he’ll tell you and you can move on. Or, in the more likely case, he explains why he never answered you, and the two of you go from there.”

 

“But just showing up at his workplace seems wrong, you should never mix business and personal lives, Jaehee.”

 

Jaehee nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah, you are right. I guess I should have thought about that… I’m sorry, I wish I had some kind of solution.”

 

You gave your friend a limp smile. “It’s alright, it’s just a boy. On the bright side, I’ll avoid any hook ups while drunk for a while.”

 

The two of you worked on the flower arrangements together, avoiding any talk of Yoosung. Jaehee told you all about her classes, and you tried to teach her about making bouquets. She was a bit hopeless when it came to colour coordinating, though. She simply composted loose stems and grabbed you paper and ribbon as needed.

 

***

 

You were sitting in your desk chair, elbows resting on your window ledge. It was nearing 4am and you deemed sleep impossible tonight. You emptied your lungs, blowing smoke out your window and into the night. You picked your lighter back up, and just as the bud lit up, you heard your phone start vibrating. The only person who actually texted you was Jaehee and she couldn’t stay up this late even if she tried. It was likely a distant relative sending you a stupid game notification on Facebook. You took another hit from the pipe, holding in the smoke for a bit before blowing it back out. You were unsure why you still even smoked anymore, it took a lot to get you high and you were wasting your money. Your savings account was promising at one time, but you no longer had any intent to live long so it drained from the costs of alcohol and drugs.

 

You lazily reached over and pulled your phone off its charging cord and turned the screen on. You got caught by a fit of coughing, not from the marijuana, but from the surprise text you received.

 

_“I’m so sorry. Can I see you?”_

You grabbed your bottle of water of your desk and took a quick swig, then gripped your phone tightly in both hands. You had no idea how to respond. You desperately wanted to see the boy who made your heart skip a beat with 7 simple words, but at the same time you knew he didn’t deserve your forgiveness. After all, he ignored you for 5 days after asking to see you soon.

 

You looked out your window, then back down of your phone. Surely you had smoked too much, because you _definitely_ did not mean to send a text back, but you did.

 

_“When?”_

 

_“Now, at the same spot as last time if that’s okay?”_

You sent a quick _“Okay.”_ And immediately started searching for a clean shirt and jeans, just something that wasn’t quite as horrid as your grungy sweater you were wearing. You popped a piece of gum into your mouth and hosed yourself down with perfume. You knew very well that your lame attempt at covering up all the marijuana you’ve smoked for the past two hours was useless. You decided something was better than nothing, at least.

 

You managed to find some clothes that smelled clean, at the very least. You tip-toed down the stairs, grabbing your jacket and zipping it up as you headed out. You didn’t even pause to think about this, you were moving nonstop. You realized that this was probably really dumb, meeting a boy in a forest at 4am after he just ignored you for 5 days, but you pushed that thought away.

 

You stumbled across the train tracks, it was hard enough to see with how dark it was, but the fog that was settling only made it worse. You eventually found the clearing though, the smell of nicotine giving it away.

 

Yoosung sat on the grass in the middle of the clearing, back facing you. He took a long drag of a cigarette, slowly blowing the smoke back out. You approached the boy, and plucked the cigarette out of his fingers, taking a drag yourself. You sat across from him, not even bothering to blow your smoke away from him. “Hi.” That was the only word you could muster.

 

Yoosung looked at you, his eyes beet red. You weren’t sure whether it was from drugs or crying; or maybe a mixture of both. You handed him back the cigarette, and he took one last drag before squishing it against the ground. “I… I don’t even know where to start. Do you even want to hear what I have to say?”

 

You broke eye contact and began pulling at some grass. He was surely going to tell you he wasn’t interested, or he just wanted to get laid, or something. You promised yourself you wouldn’t cry or do anything embarrassing, just maintain a cold shoulder until you could walk away. You shrugged and muttered a faint hum, afraid to speak in case the sound of your heart pounding against your chest came out instead.

 

Yoosung breathed a sigh of relief, and looked up at the sky. “I really hope I didn’t upset you. I seriously wanted to see you soon, preferably that very same day. But, I just got too head over heels, I guess. I did something stupid, I just… I wasn’t myself for a few days. I’m so sorry, I hope you understand.”

 

You looked back at Yoosung, taken away once more by how the dim moonlight seemed to enhance his face in all the right ways, defining his features in such a way he looked a bit older, wiser even. His boyish charm seemed to fade away with the sun. He was making absolutely no sense, if anything you were just more confused than before. “Yoosung, I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Please… Just be honest, okay? I won’t be mad.”

 

He breathed out slowly, breaking his gaze at the stars to meet your eyes instead. “I just feel so stupid. I’m an absolute idiot, and I should know better, but I really don’t and I’m probably going to keep making the same dumb mistakes.”

 

You gently rested your hand on his knee, giving it a soft squeeze. “I know all about making dumb mistakes repeatedly. Seriously, Yoosung. You don’t have to be afraid to tell me.”

 

“I just…” He sighed again, taking your hand in his. “My buddy came over when I got home and asked me to try smack and molly. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure what it was but I did it anyway…” Though you avoided venturing too far into harder drugs, you knew from others that smack and molly, heroin and ecstasy, was a terrible idea to mix. One was a ‘down’ drug and the other was an ‘up’. “I’ve never tripped so bad, I honestly thought it wasn’t going to end. I… I even considered killing myself to make it stop…” His voice grew quieter, and the shame radiated off of him. Yoosung whispered your name, his eyes seeming more glossy than usual. “I shouldn’t be thinking such things, it’s not fair to you…”

  
You felt your stomach drop, the mention of suicide not only brought back memories of your mother, but hearing Yoosung say such things when he appeared so happy broke your heart into pieces.

 

“I didn’t sleep for 4 days, I just kept hallucinating and throwing up. I didn’t eat or drink or anything, I have no idea how I didn’t die, to be honest. I ended up passing out in the bathtub and I woke up about an hour ago. I drank six bottles of water then texted you.”

 

You had no idea what to say or even what to feel. You chewed on your lip, staring into his eyes. You eventually broke eye contact so you could move, resting your head in your lap. “If anything happens like that again, call me, okay? I don’t want you to die. I only just met you, please don’t leave so soon.” You closed your eyes as you finished your sentence, praying to a God you didn’t believe in that your tears wouldn’t slip out. Within a five day period, this boy had stolen your heart without even trying. Yoosung truly didn’t deserve any of the suffering he had endured in his life, but it was how fate played out. This broken boy had already crumbled to pieces years ago, and you wanted to help him piece himself back together. The only problem though, is you yourself had been slowly crumbling since you lost your mother, and it’s hard to put something back together when all the tools are broken as well.

 

“At first… Before it got too bad, I thought about it. I just didn’t feel it was right to bother you because I was stupid, I figured it’d wear off anyway. But then it didn’t, it just got worse. My phone was dead and I couldn’t move to charge it or anything, I couldn’t even speak… I was so scared… I’m so sorry…” His voice was weak, and it eventually broke as he muttered his apology. You could have sworn right there and then that there was nothing more painful than the break in someone’s voice before they cry, especially someone as precious as Yoosung.

 

You felt him move a bit and lean down, his hands sliding to softly settle his fingers against your jaw, His chapped lips pressing against your forehead.

 

“You don’t need to be sorry…” You whispered. “We all make dumb mistakes. And sometime we’ll do them over and over again. Self-destruction is such a pretty little thing.”

 

The pressure from his lips lightened on your skin, but he remained close enough that his warm, tobacco scented breath tickled you. “It really can be. I feel bad for dumping this all on you, especially since we just met… But it feels different. It feels like we’ve known each other for so long.”

 

You nodded slowly, opening your eyes again to look back up at him. “It’s the same way for me. Kind of weird how this all played out, isn’t it? A couple of fuck-ups trying to get by. I’m glad I met you though, Yoosung. Though, if I’m being honest… I’m kind of scared. I’m just worried that I’ll get so caught up in trying to stitch your wounds back together, I’ll end up making them deeper.”

 

“I really don’t care how bad we might be for each other, I just want to be with you. At least, that’s what feels like the right thing to do now. I’ve always been impulsive, though.”

 

His lips pressed against yours this time, and you reached up to pull him closer to you, almost afraid to let go and lose him. Yoosung was certainly becoming more addictive than any other drug, and your addiction was already beginning to spiral out of control. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i deserve to be sCREAMED AT


	3. Crank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoosung tells you the story about his tattoos when you get an idea.

You sat cross-legged at the foot of Yoosung’s bed, a cigarette lazily dangling between your fingers, hanging outside the window. Yoosung was seated across from you, his sleeves and shorts rolled up. He’d been showing you his tattoos, and telling you about them. He’d done a good amount of them himself, only the few odd ones done by other artists. He was currently going through the ones of his left leg, a long, wilted rose running up his shin.

 

“One of my mentors did this one. He wanted to get me used to the pain of a tattoo before I did any of them myself, just so I knew what to prepare myself for. I was 15, the design looked cool. I hid it from my parents, they never knew I had it either.”

 

He continued telling you the short anecdotes about the tattoos littering his shin, and you found each story interesting. You couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter every time he pointed out one he had done, he was incredibly talented.

 

He had reached his thigh now, and just above his knee laid a small, black star. “This one… Heh, actually, it was the first tattoo I ever did myself. It’s pretty messy, but it means a lot to me so I don’t think I’ll ever cover it up.”

 

You squashed the cigarette butt on the window ledge and dropped it in the ash tray, then crawled across the bed to get closer to him. You looked at the tattoo, it was about the size of the pad of your thumb. Upon closer investigation, it was a bit messy, but that made it look even more endearing. You raised your hand and slowly traced it with your fingers, admiring Yoosungs work. “You’ve come a pretty far way.” You noted, comparing the small star to the intricate linework on his left shoulder, his most recent art.

 

“Yeah, I really have. I did that one on my 16th birthday. It’s weird to believe it’s been that long.”

 

“Would you tattoo me?”

 

Yoosung was caught off guard, his body tensing up a bit. “What? Right now?”

 

You nodded, looking up at him. You’ve never been tattooed before, but you’d fallen in love with his work so quickly that you were sure of it. “If you don’t mind.”

 

“Are you sure?” Yoosung wasn’t too sure why he was so nervous, he’d tattooed plenty of people, most of which were spur-of-the-moment walk-ins. “It’s going to be there forever.”

 

“I’m positive. Everything you make is so beautiful, Yoosung. And I want you to pick what it is.”

 

A blush crept up Yoosungs face, but he broke out in a smile. “If you’re positive, let’s do it!” He jumped off his bed, grabbing your hand. The two of you ran down his stairs, into his shop.

 

“I just need to set up a bit, alright?” He washed his hands then pulled gloves on and began grabbing some of his materials. “I know exactly what I’m going to make. Where do you want it?”

 

You sat down in the chair and shrugged. “You decide.”

 

He turned to look at you again, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Left shoulder blade?”

 

You nodded, feeling the excitement and anxiousness creep up into your stomach. You didn’t know what to expect, but you were sure of this.

 

“Alright, you can lay on your stomach. You’ll need to take your shirt off, though…” His voice trailed off, placing some of the ink and tattoo gun on the table next to you.

 

You shyly lifted your shirt at the hem, pulling it off of you. You trusted Yoosung, and you knew this was simply business as usual for him, but you couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed taking your clothes off in front of him.

 

Yoosung came over once more and adjusted the chair so that it lay flat. “You can lay on your stomach, I’m almost ready.” You couldn’t help but notice how he avoided looking at you.

 

All your previous fears seemed to vanish, and you smirked to yourself as you laid down: Yoosung was simply too kind.

 

He pushed his hair back with a hairband and changed his gloves once more before sitting in his chair. “You’re still positive?” He asked.

 

You turned your head to look at him and nodded again. “Yeah, I trust you, Yoosung.” He looked incredibly adorable with his hair pushed back, and it gave you a better view of his blush taking over his face once more.  He bit his lip, then focused his attention back to his supplies.

 

“Okay, let me know if it hurts too much or if you want me to stop or if you change your mind, anything, let me know.” He grabbed an alcohol wipe and slowly pushed your bra strap down your arm. You watched as he focused, feeling the shock on your skin as the cold gloves hit you, and even more so when the cold wipe began cleaning your skin.

 

He began working on you with pen first. “I’ve had this idea for a while, I’ve never sketched it though. I’m glad you’re the person I get to do it on.”

 

After a few minutes, he sat back and smiled proudly. “Do you want to see it before I start officially?”

 

“No, you can go ahead.”

 

You noticed that Yoosung chewed on his lip while he worked, especially when he wasn’t drawing. He grabbed the gun and loaded the ink cartridge, and pressed it to your back. “It’s going to feel like a bunch of tiny pinches, but it’s not really painful. Kind of a weird feeling, like the sting after you get a cut. You ready?”

 

You nodded again, watching his face as he began to start tattooing you.

 

The sensation was a bit of a surprise, but the way he explained it was absolutely correct. You didn’t think it was painful, so to say, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant. He worked on your body, completely focused. You had an idea of what he was drawing on you, but you avoided thinking too much about it since you wanted it to be a surprise.

After about 45 minutes you got used to the feeling and closed your eyes. The room was quiet except for the harsh buzz of the gun, but it was soothing. You felt completely at ease and simply awaited the end product.

 

“Okay, I think I’m done! It’ll need some touch ups, but I’m really happy with it. Do you want to see?”

 

Your eyes fluttered open and smiled brightly. “Of course!”

 

You sat up slowly, the skin on your back feeling tight and irritated. You walked over to the mirror Yoosung had hanging in the room, and he passed you a smaller one so you could see your back.

 

A long, thin stem blossomed into a daisy, a few petals blowing off and towards the center of your back. Everything was beautifully shaded, even a small shadow from the flower. However, there was a small splash of yellow in the middle of the flower.

 

“Yoosung… I thought you only worked in black ink?”

 

He turned around from his work station again, holding some ointment in his hand. “Yeah, I do. But…” His looked down, shyly smiling. “This is going to sound really cheesy, you can’t make fun of me, okay?”

 

“Of course I won’t. And not just because you’re holding the ointment that’ll make it stop itching.” You laughed.

 

Yoosung’s smile brightened up at he began lathering your back in the cream. “Well, to be honest, I feel like you’ve added colour to my life, so I decided to do something in colour for you. Is it okay?”

 

You smiled even brighter, relaxing into his hand on your back. “Of course it is! It’s beautiful, more beautiful that I could have ever imagined. I love it so much, thank you!”

 

He wrapped your back in some bandages to help the cream sink in, then handed you your shirt. “I’m really glad you like it, I think it’s one of my best pieces!”

 

You slid your shirt back on, when you suddenly remember that you couldn’t just allow him to do this for free. “Oh! How much do you want me to pay you?”

 

He waved his hand and brushed off your request. “Don’t worry about it, think of it as practice for me. You were my test subject for using colour.

 

You sighed, and stepped closer to him. “Test subject or not, you really should get money for it. At least let me pay you for the ink you used on me.”

 

“I don’t want your money, really.”

 

“I feel bad. I should pay you.”

 

“Pay me in some other way, you can keep your money.”

 

“How else?”

 

Right as the words left your mouth, you felt his lips crashing against yours. He gently grabbed your hips and pulled you closer, you melted into his touch and wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

 

Yoosung pulled away, but stayed close enough so that his lips brushed yours as he talked. “That was a good payment.”

 

You smiled and pressed your forehead against yours. “Let me leave you a tip then,” You pressed your mouth back against his, nibbling gently on his bottom lip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the calm before the storm  
> also known as the fluff before the angst >:)  
> kudos/comments are greatly appreciated  
> as is constructive critiscm!

**Author's Note:**

> U can yell at me at rehflections.tumblr.com (or send me recommendations/prompts n stuff, or just talk to me if you don't hate me for this)  
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated ~


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